Children Of Eden is a 2016 sci-fi adventure novel written by YouTuber Joey Graceffa. The story takes place in a future not too distant from ours, in a world where Earth has been destroyed by it’s most intelligent creatures, humans. You see, in the past (our present) the world was rendered useless by constant pollution and overpopulation. As a last ditch effort to fix this, humans put a rocket into the ozone layer, hoping it would spread a newly made chemical that would cool down the Earth. This, of course, did not work and it ultimately lead to the eventual death of all life on Earth. That is… all life except of humans. Humans, being as smart as they are, managed to build themselves an artificial city of Eden. In this city, it seems like a paradise. But in order for people to be safe, there is one law you must never break. If you do, everything you know and love will disappear. That law is that you cannot have more than one child.

Now, we meet Rowan, a timid but eager teenager. She, of course, is a second child. The book explores how she deals with her life, cooped up in her house that is surrounded by stone walls. It also explores how, during one daring night, Rowan escapes it all. The characters in this story are, for the most part, really good. Rowan is a convincing and relatable lead while her brother, Ash, is a reliable guy and a character we feel sympathetic for. Those characters are the two shining stars in the story, as well as Rowan’s love interest (can’t spoil that). While these three characters are well written and relatable, less can be said about Rowan’s parents and the big baddies of this film. Her parents are never really developed and we don’t get the chance to really feel like we know them. As for the antagonists, they’re not at all threatening. Of course, they’re meant to be, but Joey doesn’t make them detailed enough and to be honest, they feel like stormtroopers.

I know I ended it on a sort of negative note, but despite my minor gripes, this book is truly a treat and is timeless as well. As our own reality moves closer to a world where an Eden is going to be a necessity, this book really feels like it happened already. The pacing in this story is also really good, and nothing feels rushed. But yeah, to close this out, Children Of Eden is a must read for anybody who is willing to try a new type of dystopia.